Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday announced that the state has set an ambitious target of reducing rabies deaths to zero by 2030, with the launch of the State Action Plan for Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination.
The initiative aligns with the national goal of ‘Zero Human Deaths due to Dog-Mediated Rabies by 2030’ under the National Rabies Control Programme. The state has adopted a comprehensive One Health strategy to address rabies prevention in an integrated and sustainable manner.
Vaccines to be available at all health centres
The minister stated that anti-rabies vaccines and rabies immunoglobulin will be made available at all Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, taluk hospitals and district hospitals across Karnataka. Maintaining adequate stock has been made mandatory.
Private hospitals have also been directed to ensure uninterrupted availability of medicines and to provide immediate treatment without insisting on advance payment.
State and district-level joint monitoring committees have been constituted to oversee implementation, with support from various departments and non-governmental organisations.
Snakebite action plan also launched
Alongside the rabies elimination strategy, the government launched a State Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Snakebite Envenoming.
Rao noted that in 2024, Karnataka became the first state to declare all snakebite cases and deaths as notifiable diseases. The plan focuses on prevention, availability of anti-venom, training of healthcare staff and public awareness.
Free treatment will be provided for snakebite victims as well, and private hospitals have been instructed to deliver life-saving care without demanding advance payment.
The Health Department emphasised that these measures are aimed at ensuring no preventable death occurs due to delay in treatment.